This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, February 27th, 2009. I'm Caleb Brown.

As the GOP tries to find its footing after losing so much credibility these recent years,

has the stimulus bill given them the chance to once again rally around fiscal conservatism.

Kato Institute Senior Fellow Mike Tanner comments.

I think that the Republican Party has clearly made a decision that one reason why they were defeated in the last two elections was

that they lost a great deal of confidence among the public as the small

government or at least the anti-spending party in Washington. They went

along with every budget that the Bush administration came up with that before

the advent of Barack Obama was the ultimate in big spending government.

So they have decided to draw a line in the sand to some degree against a lot of these spending

bills.

We saw it on the various bailouts. We saw it on the stimulus bill.

We're going to see it in opposition to the omnibus bill that's coming down the road and the

Obama budget. This I think is probably going to be a defining moment

in terms of the Republican Party going forward.

Who are the people who have been most articulate

in opposing this kind of spending.

Governors, members of Congress?

Clearly, I think the unanimity among House Republicans

spoke volumes.

And you have to give a certain amount of credit

to the new Republican leadership in terms of maintaining

...